Media.www.TuftsDaily.com – Bennett Kuhn
After a flurry of activity over the past few months that ended with a vote supporting the appearance of an amendment on the 2008 ballot to end same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, the status of the proposed amendment is still in limbo.
When, if at all, a final hurdle to it being put up for a public referendum will be overcome is still unclear.
The proposed amendment, which still needs to be voted on by the current legislature to determine whether it will appear on the ballot, has been the source of a great deal of controversy about the role of the public in determining certain state policies.
“I don’t believe in putting civil rights to a [popular] vote,” Dona Yarbrough, director of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender (LGBT) Center, said. “Many civil rights violations have been perpetrated by the majority and against a minority, and minority rights have traditionally been protected by the Constitution and the courts.”